Our Secret
by Sichan
Summary: Four years have passed since the Digital World was saved and the original Digidestined are all in college. While studying, Tai gets an urgent call from Sora... Taiora, rated T for implied adult situations


Our Secret

By: Si-chan (Sierra Patterson)

**Disclaimer: Digimon is a product of Bandai and I claim no rights or ownership to the series, the characters, or the franchise in general.**

It was a pleasantly warm April afternoon. Cherry blossoms were still in full bloom, raining pink and white down on the sidewalks. On the Tai's college campus, almost all the windows were open to let in the fresh spring air. Including his. He sat at his desk in his dorm room, eyes glued to the pages of his Economics textbook. First week of college and he was already swamped with homework and things to study. But he was glad for the way the world was becoming thanks to the work of the Digidestined. He could take classes on Digimon now and, not only be the best in his class, but be extremely popular as well. He wondered how everyone else was fairing the attention of being the first known Digidestined.

Just as he closed the book, his cell phone rang. He glanced at the small device next to his computer and saw the name "Sora" on his caller ID. With a slight frown, he answered, but before he could say hello, the sounds of sobbing and sniffing came through over the line.

"Hello?" he called out, feeling alarm raising in the pit of his chest.

"Tai, it's Sora..."

"Why are you crying? What's wrong? What's going on? What happened?"

Sora giggled slightly between sniffles and coughs.

"At least let me answer one question before you ask another one."

"Oh...sorry...What's wrong?"

There was a sigh and then a momentary pause. The silence of Sora gathering her thoughts tortured Tai, the worry from earlier thumping around his stomach uncomfortably. Finally, she mumbled something and spoke.

"It's Matt..." she said softly.

"Oh..."

And now he hated her. It was an awkward position to put him in, though sometimes he felt as though Sora remained blissfully unaware of the feelings he once had for her. Feelings he had to push aside for the sake of his friendships once Sora and Matt had gotten together. However, she surely knew that it was unfair to put him in such a situation with two of his best friends.

"I know I shouldn't be telling you this," she continued, "but we're just having some problems. He's so distant and hard to talk to..."

"Well, that's Matt. We all feel that way about him," Tai joked, feeling nervous and unsure how to approach the problem.

"Yeah I guess...Can I come over? I'd like to just be with someone right now."

Tai felt the blood rush to his head, making a dizzy feeling come over him.

"Err...sure. I thought you were studying in Kyoto though with Joe?"

"I am...but Tokyo's only a train ride away..."

They ended the conversation, leaving Tai more anxious than he felt before. It was like putting his hand through the electrified gate all over again. He flopped on his bed next to Koromon and sighed. The sudden movement woke the little pink Digimon.

"Tai? Are you ok?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. I'm just trying to figure out how to talk to Sora about Matt..."

"Oh...Just be honest with her?" Koromon said, though he didn't seem to be sure of his answer.

Tai closed his eyes and laughed. He knew Koromon wouldn't know how to take on a problem like this. He never had to deal with the possibility of betraying his friends and the ones he loved most. Koromon sat staring at Tai, wondering if his advice helped or hurt Tai's problem.

A few hours later, Tai had fallen asleep when Sora arrived. Her quiet, slow knocks on the dorm door woke him up, sending him into a frenzy to clean up both himself and his living space. He didn't bother himself with his roommate's mess, feeling that Sora would understand that that wasn't his. He opened the door and looked her over. To him, she looked more mature for some reason. Her red-brown hair was still in that same old hair style, parted to the side and slightly flipped up. She wore a simple sweater and blue jeans. Nothing special, which disappointed him a bit. After a month or two of not seeing each other, he had hoped to see something different...but he knew she probably was thinking the same of him. Yokomon sat perched on her shoulder, beaming at him with an inappropriate expression that contrasted Sora's gloomy demeanor.

"Come in," he said sheepishly, "you can sit on my bed. My roommate's a bit of a messy person, I hope you don't mind."

She came in quietly with a small smile and took a seat on the mattress, bringing with her a cloud of dread that proceed to hang over the room. Yokomon hopped down next to Koromon and immediately started talking, catching up on old times. But their human partners stared at each other, wishing they could start talking as easily as they did. Tai worked up the courage to cut the tension and sat down at his desk across from her.

"So...uh...what brought all this up anyway?" he said as he ran a hand through his bushy, brown hair.

Another pause as she tried to figure out how she wanted to articulate the problem to him. Her eyes wandered to the window, a sort of sadness in them that Tai had never noticed before. This time the silence didn't feel as painful, but he felt nervous from the anticipation of finding out the inside workings of the relationship between his friends, between his best friend and his childhood crush.

"Well, we had a fight about how we hardly get to spend time together anymore...and he didn't seem like he cared. I yelled and swore and cried and he just sat there silent like it didn't matter..."

"Were you PMSing?"

Sora glared at him indignantly, her cheeks turning red in anger and embarrassment. She shot up and turned toward the door as though ready to leave.

"I knew I shouldn't have come to see you of all people. You're still such a child..."

"C'mon, I was just trying to lighten the mood. You know how I am," Tai said laughing.

"I'm leaving..."

"Don't be like that. Look, I'm sorry."

He took her hand and tugged, giving Sora a big smile as she turned around to glance at him. Patting the bed, he urged her back to her seat, which she obliged.

"You know me. And you know Matt. He's probably always going to be like that. You know you can't change a man," Tai said.

Sora sighed.

"You're right...should I not be with him then? I need someone to love me and show it..." she said, lowering her eyes to the hand that Tai still held.

The moment Tai had to prepare himself for. For so many years, he wanted Sora to be his. Aside from Kari, Sora was one of the most important people in his life. She had been there for him since they were kids. And now was the chance, but telling Sora to leave Matt would hurt the one person who seemed to really click with him other than the girl sitting before him. He and Matt had been through a lot together since the Digital World and it solidified their bond as more than friends: it made them almost brothers. He smiled and shook his head, not believing what he was about to say.

"I can't tell you that Sora. Only you can tell yourself that. I'm sure Matt loves you, he just isn't able to show you right now. He'll do it right soon. And if he doesn't, I'll kick his ass for you personally until he does."

He stood up and did a few "karate kicks" and "karate chops" to make Sora laugh. She giggled first and then burst into laughter as Tai tripped and fell on his back.

"You don't have to laugh _that_ much!" he laughed as he propped himself up on his elbows.

Next thing he knew, Sora's face was so close to his their noses were practically touching. He blushed and tried to back away a bit but was held in place by a gentle, soft grip on his arm. Sora sat on top of him, straddling his hips and staring at him with tears running down her face.

"Tai...you were always my best friend..."

"Sora..."

"You are the one who knows me best..."

"Sora..."

"I love you..."

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**AN: This is a short story, split into two chapters for easier of online reading. You'll find out what happens next in the next chapter. Read and review, constructive criticism appreciated. Also, please don't give any reviews telling me "Sora married Matt at the end of Digimon" or "Taiora sux, Sorato FTW" or any of that pairing bull. I understand canon but I have my favorites. **


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